The pineapple king
by ManDea
Summary: That's the last time Ace buys a pineapple on discount. Rated M for awkward naked pineapples.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Beta'd by Aerle. **

Ace was halfway passing the outside market when something to the side caught his eye and made his heart jump. He turned to the first basket of fruits, his hand shaking slightly as he reached out and cuffed it around the most interesting one of all, even if he knew what a pineapple was and how it looked. Before his sanity could even come back, Ace had already purchased the fruit with a grin on his face. He didn't understand completely why, but it made him feel warmer than any of his pyrotechnics and felt oddly nostalgic.

Ace set the pineapple down on the counter from where it had been tucked away safely along with him inside his jacket. He was still grinning when he bent down to be at eye level with it, resting his chin on the edge of the counter like a hopeful child and reaching out to play with it a little curiously, watching as its weight caused it to waddle.  
>"I'm so calling you Marco."<p>

* * *

><p>Ace frowned, looking at his dear fruit of a friend. He wasn't looking so well these days and it had even prompted the freckled faced boy to do some googling. Pineapples only had so long before they would rot, but for some reason this pineapple had already lasted longer than any other, a good three weeks. But even so, all things came to an end and Ace supposed if he was going to eat his pineapple friend Marco, he might as well get to it, he'd hate to see him go to a waste anyway. He picked him up gently, caressing him in his arm and trying to wonder how exactly he was even suppose to go about this. What was he suppose to do, just bite into it like a hard fruit? Shrugging, since he usually just engulfed things anyway like his brother did, he brought the pineapple to his mouth and ignored its spikes as he took one bite. His eyes widened though, the texture instantly changing to something more, squishy and life like. He dropped his grasp at what wasn't nearly a pineapple anymore, but a man, a very attractive man at that who sat stark naked on the edge of his counter and looked down at him. "Ow."<p>

"You.. You were a pineapple…" Ace said stunned, backing away from the counter with a blush consuming his cheeks and rising to the tips of his ears. His eyes just couldn't stop checking out the frame that was his now human pineapple. Marco, now human, had already had his few moments of looking at his new body before just shrugging it off and rubbing at the bite mark on his arm, then he looked over at his attacker. "Ace…? Right?"  
>Ace swallowed thickly. Okay, so it knew how to talk and maybe he had introduced himself to a fucking fruit once upon a time. He nodded.<br>"I'm cold."  
>That's when reality hit him and he realized he wasn't being a very courteous host. He told Marco to stay there as he dashed from the kitchen and into his bed room, taking a moment to just breath and try and realize what the hell was going on. He grabbed some pants, thinking mostly of his own dressing routine and returned back, gazing down Marco's body from afar as he approached because damn, if he'd known this would happen he would have started buying fruits and eating better a lot sooner. He handed him the clothes. Marco took them, but then just gazed down at them in confusion..<br>"Lemme guess," Ace sighed, running his fingers through his hair. "You don't... know how to wear clothes either?"

Marco was sitting on the counter, carefully observing his new body while it was still completely uncovered. He prodded his new skin which was smooth and soft unlike the one he had as a fruit. It reminded him of the first time Ace brought him home, kissed his rough skin, caressed his leaves then gave him a soft pillow that was his and his alone. Ace stumbled back into the room and Marco smiled affectionately at the freckled man that cared for him.

Ace just sighed. Great, so this guy fruit thing didn't know how to put clothes on. How the hell was he even suppose to show him how to do this? He sighed, gesturing to his pants. "These are pants. You put your legs in them and pull them up. Can you do that?"  
>Marco just kept staring though, his brows sort of furrowing before one just raised. "I'm still cold," he explained.<br>Ace face palmed. Okay, he got that, but that didn't help their situation, now did it? So, being spontaneous, Ace dropped his shorts, trying to act oblivious to the spark of interest from his new pineapple human who didn't know he too had these interesting human parts. Because to Ace, what were even boxers?  
>"Alright, so you hold it like this.. step in like this… pull it up…" He grunted, a little annoyed cause he was trying to take this slow to show him. Then, grinning he stood up straight. "See like that- whoa."<br>He almost stumbled back, Marco being right in front of him and watching him curiously. He reached out, touching Ace's face gently with a stern expression before lowering his chest. Then, without warning he grabbed Ace and hugged him close, the memory of when Ace had stored him away in his jacket after they left the market that chilly day coming back to him. He smiled warmly. "Not cold."  
>Ace remained silent... This... was going to be interesting.<p>

Unlatching Marco from his body was not exactly easy and he couldn't really say he wanted to do it, but somehow he did. The blond man needed some clothes and fast, otherwise the whole situation might end up weirder than it already was. Handing him the pair of pants he had gotten earlier, Ace said: "Here, put these on like I showed you."

Marco took the pants before glancing down his body, making Ace foolishly follow his gaze. That had not, by far, been the first time Ace had seen a stark naked and fully aroused man, but it might have been the most interesting. Obviously, the former fruit was confused by his new state of affairs, at least for a moment, before tracing the blond happy trail with his fingers and grabbing his fully erect member. Ace was shocked, albeit slightly aroused as well, but his jaw was slack and the possibility of a blush was not to be excluded. After two short strokes, he finally collected himself enough to utter four simple words.

"What are you doing?"

Marco stopped for a moment to glance at Ace with an all too innocent look on his face. "I saw you doing this every time it happened."

Ace was horrified at the mention of things he had done in front of a pineapple, but it was the fact he would have to explain things like these to the other that made him cringe.

Marco winced slightly, a hush breath leaving between his lips as he continued to stroke, the memory of how his Ace had done this very same practice fresh in his mind. It was an unusual sensation, definitely not something he had ever experienced before in his short life as a pineapple. Human beings were really interesting, he had to admit. He was too focused to even notice that Ace's hand went up and behind his head to awkwardly scratch at the back of his neck.

The raven haired man honestly had no idea what the hell he was suppose to do in this sort of situation. Technically the fruit wasn't wrong, he'd jerked off many times and it was a way to get rid of an erection, but how the hell did he get him to stop?

"Okay... But oi, you aren't suppose to do that in public! That's something to do when you're at home!" Ace tried to teach.

Marco hesitated another stroke, bracing himself and lifting his head to look over at the handsome other with a flushed face.

"This... isn't our home?" he asked.

Ace wasn't sure why but the way the former fruit had said those words had him feeling a bit more strange. He might have announced to a pineapple once upon a time this was their place, but he never would have guessed it would understand and remember. He sighed, his face softening. Shit, this was so weird and he didn't even know what to say in explanation anymore.

"No... it is... it's just..." He couldn't find the right words at all.

So instead he just took a step forward, his mouth growing dry, before reaching out and putting his hand on Marco's shoulder.

"Come on let's finished getting you... clothed and stuff, yeah?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Updates might be slow, but we swear they will be worth it :D**

Admittedly, the pineapple human was as attractive as ever in those jeans that might have been on the tight side, but Ace would certainly have the other's naked body invading his dreams for a while. With a sudden appearance of a naked man in his kitchen, Ace was painfully reminded of how long it had in fact been since there even was a naked person beside him in the apartment.

"I'm still cold," Marco muttered, looking generally conflicted about the tight pants. They'd definitely need some new bigger clothes for him. Clothes. Right, normal people wore shirts as well; something he hadn't bothered with when getting clothes for the pineapple. Come to think of it, he only brought him the pants. No underwear or anything. Well, he'd have to work on that.

With a sigh, Ace took one last look at the blond before turning to his room and digging out a soft grey hoodie. That should fit, he figured, saddened by the fact the other would be fully covered. A shame, really, but what else could he do? Even as attractive as Marco was, Ace couldn't really act on it considering how oblivious the former pineapple was about sexual attraction and, no doubt, any emotions as well. He returned to the blond and found him still standing by the counter.

"Here," he said as he handed the hoodie to his new roommate then groaned in exasperation. "You don't know how to put it on, do you?" he asked. This was getting a bit old, honestly, since Ace's strong suit had always been stripping hot guys, not dressing them. Marco shook his head in reply and observed Ace expectantly, waiting for him to help. What the hell, Ace thought as he walked closer to the blond and took back the hoodie from the other's hands. Well, at least he couldn't call his life boring anymore.

"Lift your arms," he instructed and watched as the other obeyed without complaint, a surge of excitement rushing through him at the display of stretching muscles before his eyes. It was already clear to him that he'd be losing his mind with the odd blond if he continued that kind of behavior and it was a fairly safe bet that the other would remain as oblivious for a while. Ace lifted the hoodie and pulled it onto the blond, all the while thinking about the fact he might be stuck with a hot blond in his apartment for a really long time. Where else could he sent the guy, anyway? He wouldn't be able to make it on his own with the whole not knowing how to be human thing. He was pulling the hoodie down and over the other's all too well toned chest, finally hiding the distracting mass of muscle which should have been impossible for a former pineapple.

"There," Ace said as he observed the fully dressed man for a moment, before pulling the hoodie off again.

Shaking his head to stop the less than chaste images popping into his mind, Ace told the blond to put his arms down and handed him the hoodie yet again. "Now you do it."

Marco pouted his lips, looking at Ace with slight doubt. Really, this human should trust him a little more, as he had trusted him the entire time he'd been in this home, fruit or not. Ace could have thrown him out with the rest of the fruits in his kitchen but he had opted not to, that was trust. So could he at least trust him to have observed him enough to know how this second piece of cloth worked?

Either way, Marco shrugged it off and put his arms into the largest opening, tunneling through it until he met it's collar and stopped. There was something wrong with this contraption. Frantically he spun in the direction of amused chuckles. Fuck, Ace was watching too! This was embarrassing, humans did nothing but make embarrassing things. He wanted to be comfortable as himself, why did he have to drape such foolish things over him?

"Well that's one thing that didn't change." Ace muttered though, approaching the pineapple man and touching his side gently, to let him know that he was there.

Next he reached up and gently tugged the top of the hoodie down and over Marco's oval head and face, grinning softly at the tiniest of flush on his cheeks. He was like a big kid and it reminded him of someone else he occasionally had to get dressed that he was actually related to.

Marco averted his eyes stubbornly. He really thought at least that of human tasks he could muster, having Ace done it at least once, maybe twice during his stay. But it didn't matter, now he was slightly warmer on his top and could no longer feel his bottom. What was this referred to again on the televison? Ah, fashion.

"I don't like fashion." Marco scowled, furrowing his brows as he watched his hand vanish into the pocket in the front of this hoodie.

Ace cocked his head slightly to the side. "How the hell do you know what that means?"

The pineapple man glanced up, moving his chin to the side and gesturing to the black box in the corner, currently off.

"That used to talk to me, when you sat me there." His eyes gestured back to the counter directly across the apartment.

"Oh." Ace was baffled. This pineapple caught on fast didn't he? It was really weird but fascinating at the same time. He reached out and nudged his arm, getting his attention back. "Well don't worry about that, it's not important. What do you say about us getting you some real clothes huh?"

"I can't feel these 'legs'."

Ace face palmed. "It's fine we'll get you out of those soon enough, alright? Just bare with me for now." A chill ran down his spine however when he glanced up, catching the grin of his fruity roommate.

"That was your favorite part of that thing." He gestured once more to the television. "When it told you it'd get you out of your pants."

Ace would never admit it, but he could almost feel his face heat up and a blush form. That's right, he did things that would be considered weird to people, but really. How could he have known that a discount pineapple would turn into a hot guy?! And the damn bastard seemed to be less oblivious that Ace had presumed at first, judging from the predatory grin on the blond's face.

"Come on, we're going for a walk," Ace said, needed the walk in the chilly air more to act as a cold shower than to actually walk, but the blond didn't need to know that. He was smug enough already for a former pineapple. Though, the fact the blond learned about all things sexual from observing Ace and his choice of adult movies could benefit him eventually... No! Ace mentally slapped himself and quickly disappeared into the hall before another blush possibly broke out.

Fortunately for his sanity, Ace managed to find some boots big enough for the damn pineapple and a jacket so he wouldn't freeze, or worse, try to cuddle him at random times in random places. If only Ace wasn't a cuddler himself; it was only worse when he wanted to give in to temptation. But he couldn't, the pineapple needed a different introduction to the human race. Not like he hadn't seen enough of Ace's perverted side already. He swore he would never forgive himself for jerking off in front of a fruit for three weeks and he would definitely never do it again. God forbid he gets stuck with another fruit human. Could that even happen?

That does it, Ace grabbed the boots and jacket with a grumble, deciding to never buy fruit ever again. The blond seemed to notice the irritation on the freckled face, though, and he was in front of the man in no time.

"Are you okay? We don't have to go out if you don't want to," he said, his hands casually caressing Ace's suddenly abnormally hot cheeks as he stared at the blond with his mouth agape. Kissing him would be so easy... Ace thought for a moment, but snapped out of it just as quickly as he had been caught by the blond.

"No, you need clothes that fit. We're going," Ace said with a grumpy huff and dropped the boots in front of Marco, leaving his side only to get a pair of socks. "You know how to put these on?" he asked skeptically, but sighed in relief when Marco nodded. Even if it was with a face that suggested Ace was a complete moron. People might think he was, dressing a pineapple and all.

After needing only a bit of help with shoelaces, and Ace really didn't hold that one against the other, they made their way out into the sunny, but still fairly cold air. As they walked in silence, the blond looking around in amazement, Ace noticed probably the millionth mistake of the day; he would probably have to dress the blond once they found him some clothes to try on.


	3. Chapter 3

**Beta'd by Aerle. Sorry for waiting so long, the next update should be faster :D**

Ace just stood there in complete shock. His pineapple man, Marco, was outside with him as they'd just left the apartment, but this was not what he'd expected to be his first reaction. First, he obviously was one with the sun or something, as he stretched with a smile on his face, but then Marco moved, straight to the flowers out in front of the apartment complex.

That was fine, nothing wrong with a sensitive man who talked to flowers, he probably was technically a flower or something once upon a time- Ace didn't really know or care, science wasn't his forte. It was when he nuzzled up against a blossom though, as if meeting with an old friend, that he stepped in, reaching out and grabbing the blond by the back of his shirt with a mild blush. The neighbors were fucking watching from their balconies.

"Okay come on, Marco buddy, this is getting a little creepy now," Ace mumbled low enough between the two of them.

Marco's eyes widened at being pulled away, his arm still reaching out for his darlings as he tried to protest.

"Ah- but you don't understand! I-" He halted, though, when Ace stopped and they were standing where the grass ended and cement started.

He stared down at it a little distasteful, but then glanced up and at the street, another something he recognized coming into view as Ace urged him forward into a walk.

"Ace!" he said happily with a smile. "I remember being in one of those with you."

It was endearing, Ace noticed, the way he talked just like such an excited child. It was hard to take, though, considering this big kid had also 'innocently' had an erection in his kitchen before. Still, he looked over to the car in question, ignoring the driver's glare, because why the hell was someone pointing at them and laughing.

"That's right, you've been in one of those before, hadn't you?" He regretted taking the damn fruit out of the apartment before. What did this guy have, a photographic memory? "What else do you remember?"

Marco looked back towards the sidewalk, furrowing his brows slightly to try and search through his memories. He was never used to thinking so much, it was a bit troublesome, but he liked it. It was like reliving his favorite things in his head and all with his human, Ace.

"I remember you saved me from that place. You found me among my brothers and sisters and took me home."

The freckled man raised an eyebrow. "Your brothers and sisters? At the market?"  
>"Don't feel guilty, I know your arms could only hold one. Thank you for choosing me. I'm sure they too are doing fine."<p>

Ace pressed his lips together. Yup, time for a change of subject, because chances were his 'siblings' were pretty rotten by now unless... there was a growing trend of fruits changing into sexy men? Damn, he loved that marketplace. Though, he wasn't really ready for another fruit person; one weird pineapple human was enough, thank you.

"Come on, we need to buy you some clothes," he said, changing the subject less than smoothly, though it didn't really matter since Marco wasn't exactly that good with social conventions. Ace just hoped he wasn't good at reading people yet either.

Ace started walking down the street in the direction of the closest mall, contemplating whether the blond would dislike being surrounded by a lot of people while said blond walked beside him, his eyes darting everywhere in fascination. People may have been looking at them a bit more than necessary, but Ace could relate seeing as the blond looked like an oversized baby seeing the world for the first time.

Luckily, the mall was close enough and their walk was fairly short, but Marco's first impression of the inside of a shopping centre was priceless. They walked through the confusing sliding doors that made Marco gasp with fascination, before they made their way through a manageable crowd. Ace was trying to think of a store that would be cheap enough for his rather poor budget, his thoughts subtly shifting to what would look good on the blond and he didn't notice immediately that said blond was no longer following him. He turned with a bout of panic, fearing the other might get lost in a sea of unknown people and Ace couldn't really imagine how the other would react to that.

Frantically turning, Ace scanned the people around him, looking for an already familiar looking tuff of blond. Relief washed over him as he noticed the man right away, almost jogging to him before Marco managed to disappear once again.

"What are you doing, I almost lost you," Ace said, but didn't really sound that mad, before his eyes shifted to the object of Marco's undivided attention. Of course he'd stop in front of the Victoria's secret window with a fair share of lingerie on display. All Ace needed, beside a pineapple turn human, was that said pineapple discovered his attraction to women. Next thing, he'd have to teach the man about girls and how his private parts worked. While interesting in itself, it would also probably be too much for Ace since he'd much rather teach the blond in other ways, but hey, whatever. He couldn't help but be a bit disappointed, though.

"I'm guessing you like those," he said, motioning in the general direction of soft looking lingerie he'd never actually had an opportunity touching or anything. They did look pretty, he'd give them that. "Can't say I blame you, but we should really get going." He started in the direction they had been going sooner, but Marco remained in front of the window, prompting Ace to walk back. He didn't manage to speak this time, though, as Marco spoke instead.

"I think that would look good on you," Marco said, pointing to a rather interesting ensemble in black with a pair of thigh-high stockings. Ace felt himself blush, noting that perhaps Marco wasn't discovering an attraction to women per se.

He let out an awkward laugh. "What?" His voice went a little higher as he played his confusion. Was this guy serious? Him in lingerie? He was beginning to have a habit of randomly forgetting this was a pineapple man he was talking to. Still, he shook his head, reaching out and nudging Marco's arm a little, playfully.

"Nah man, no way. Come on, we're here to buy you clothes. Not me."  
>Marco, however, wasn't convinced and wouldn't be dropping the subject so lightly. He took a slow blink, watching the other's slightly flustered reaction and asked the appropriate question.<p>

"Why?"

"Because, it's not made for people like you and me."

Marco narrowed his eyes slightly, challengingly. "Why?" he parroted again.

Damn, the big baby had matured to annoying toddler. But no way in hell was he about to give a pineapple an explanation to what makes women, women and men, men. If he really looked at the model posters or had watched the tv from the counters back home like he'd said he should know about this.

"I just don't have the parts to fill any of that."

Ace regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth and his skin shivered. He watched the blond's eyes, opening wider a bit with understanding, traveled down his frame and settled at his crotch. Seriously, he heard that Ace didn't have those parts, but went to look at the parts that did come included? How was he even supposed to respond to that?

Marco just smiled softly, as if in understanding and looked back up curiously at the display. His finger rose again and this time he pointed to a different ensemble, of a pinker variety and designed for the lower half of the body especially. Excitedly, he tapped at the glass like the adorable child his mentality currently was.

"How about that one then?"

Ace couldn't get any redder. Quickly he reached out, snatching Marco's hand and yanking him away in the opposite direction - if he hadn't who knows how this shopping trip might go. A pouty fruit getting his way at seeing Ace cross dress? As if, though he was a little lucky the blond wasn't deciding to tantrum. Instead Marco had an equally satisfied but amused expression on his face as he was pulled away.

"How about we just focus back on you today, yeah?"

Marco gave a half shrug, not fighting it and Ace led them to another store of the male variety. Then he released the fruits hand and cautiously walked inside. He scanned over the sections until finding one that looked promising for Marco's side and motioned him over.

"Alright, big guy. Now what size do you think you are? A large? Or an extra large? You might have to try this on-"

"The store over there is more colorful." Marco pointed out with a smirk, looking hopelessly back at where they'd come from.

They were still near the front of the store enough that Marco could see the pink lights illuminating from across the mall. Ace snapped by his ear to get his attention back, scowling at him.

"Hey, if you like Victoria's Secret so much, we'll go back to it later, but for now you really need some clothes, so can we focus on that, please?"

It was somewhat frustrating, but Ace honestly couldn't bring himself to get too irritated or mad. A part of him somewhere actually found it cute, but also strange. It was after all a pineapple envisioning him in drag.

"Who's Victoria?"

"No one, it's the name of the store," Ace muttered, flicking clothes around on the rack.  
>"What's her secret?"<p>

"She doesn't have one, she isn't real. It's just a woman's underwear store."

"You have underwear."

Ace's cheeks dared to flush again at such quick comments, a flash of memory from the earlier underwear endeavors (among many other things) crossing his mind.

"So do you."

He glanced over to see what the blond was doing, only to find him resting against a display case lazily, a warm expression on his face - things definitely clicking inside his head.

"I'm Ace's Secret."

Ace doubted he meant to suggest he was his underwear.


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm Ace's secret."

"Just go pick something out," Ace said and turned towards another rack. Thatch couldn't help but notice the blush creeping onto his friend's face. That in itself warranted an explanation, though not as much as the fact Ace apparently had a secret. A big, blond one. Glancing around to make sure his supervisor wasn't in sight, Thatch fished his phone out of his pocket and immediately started typing out a message.

"_Does Ace have a boyfriend?" _

The brunet knew it was enough to intrigue Izo and sure enough, the reply arrived almost immediately. It wasn't so much an answer as it was another question and Thatch was left with simply observing his freckled friend.

"_What do you mean? Do you know something I don't?_" Izo had sent him and Thatch didn't really know if he knew anything. Glancing around once again, the brunet lifted his phone and snapped a quick photo of Ace talking to his blond friend without regard to personal space or the fact that they were in public. As he was sending the picture to Izo, he knew that the other would claim it was cute. Confusing, but cute.

The reply came even faster this time, if that was even possible, and consisted of only three words: _Be right there. _

That wasn't exactly helpful, but they might get to the bottom of this secret together. Returning the phone into his pocket, Thatch walked away from the register and approached his friend. Ace was alone at the moment and the brunet took his chance.

"Can I help you?" he said and Ace looked up, his mouth slightly open as if he were about to say something, but his jaw went slack instead as he got a look at the brunet. Thatch was grinning, the look on Ace's face extremely amusing.

"Thatch…" Ace said, his eyes slightly wide in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here," the brunet replied, the grin still on his face. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Ace was on the verge of blushing again, Thatch could see it clear as day and it was really strange and intriguing at the same time. Still, the freckled man didn't reply, mostly because their conversation, however short it may be, was interrupted.

"Ace," a deep voice called from one of the dressing rooms. "Help me, I'm stuck," the voice added, sounding just slightly pouty at the end, making Ace freeze in his spot. Thatch's eyebrows rose on their own, a look of utter confusion visible on his face. Ace stammered for a bit before he managed to turn and reply with a coherent sentence.

"Uhm, wait a bit, I'll be right there," he said, immediately turning back to Thatch.

"I…" Ace started, but was once again interrupted as the dressing room opened with a bang, revealing the blond man Thatch had seen with his friend. Except, this time, the blond was half dressed, half tangled in a piece of clothing he couldn't even identify, with a look on his face that spelled despair.

Thatch's face instantly went blank. Maybe this was just some kind of prank and there were hidden cameras because he'd seen enough drama and strange happenings in the mall, but never anything like this. There had to be some connection between his friend and this blond, because he wasn't exactly sure what they had in common.

For one, this guy had gotten himself so tangled in what Thatch could now distinguish as something from the new women's clothing line. Sure, they had a cross dressing friend in common, but never before had the freckled youth ever expressed liking that type of thing and they'd spoken about some pretty insane kinks! Nor had he even mentioned being gay, for that matter.

Then there was the fact the blond had nearly both his legs where one should be and his eyes and face covered in purple fabric, it was a mess. Thatch could only watch and debate about snapping another photo before Ace, who had been staring baffled beside him sprung into action and let the door slam behind him as he rushed to his aid. Of course, the brunet employee could not help himself and edged a bit closer to the door to hear just what was being said inside.

"Ace, your face is red again…" He heard the blond man mutter and something snapped, prompting Thatch to grunt because that wasn't coming out of his employee discount.

"Shut up," Ace hissed at his mystery man, his voice much lower. "This is a woman's outfit what, were you thinking? Stop thinking about Victoria's secret!"  
>Feeling brave, and since he'd heard some merchandise rip after all, Thatch pressed onto the dressing room door, peeking inside again.<br>"Oi, Ace, you'll have to…" His voice trailed off, his words escaping him again at an unusual scene.

Ace had gotten up and was standing on the bench available for guests to use, looking down and struggling to get the small opening off of Marco's face. Then, like the timing was absolutely perfect, it came off and revealed the man's face who was very relieved and able to breathe. He smiled so innocently at Thatch.

"Hi, I'm Ace's secret."  
>Thatch took a quick glance at Ace's expression, reading off his horror and suspecting his thoughts about this whole ordeal being correct then awkwardly chuckled back towards the 'secret' man.<br>"Not going to be much of a secret if you keep telling people, yeah?" He attempted a somewhat casual conversation.  
>Ace quickly jumped down and guided him back and out of the dressing room, instructing Marco to wait before closing the door behind him. Then, still wearing the pleading expression of a child caught red handed, he looked up at Thatch and swallowed thickly. He was so screwed, the brunette just knew it.<br>"Thatch, listen I can explain," he began the perfect first sentence to any explanation. "It's not what it looks like, I swear. This is just my friend, he's uh.. He's from another country so he's not really familiar with how things work so I'm just helping him out and um.."  
>The employee tuned out his friend a moment, looking back towards the changing room and at the floor where he could see the man's feet shuffling. He didn't sound like he had any kind of accent, but really what did he know about foreigners. Maybe Ace purchased a mail order...husband?<br>Before he could say much more on the matter again though, his freckled friend rolled his eyes, hearing the sound of a big something falling inside the dressing room and retreated again to assist, sighing on the way. Instead of questioning yet another turn of events, Thatch simply stood and observed as Ace opened the door to the dressing room once again.

"Just a friend?" he heard the blond ask with a slight pout, which was basically the only visible part of his face as there was a shirt stuck on his head yet again. With a firm grip and a quick tug, Ace pulled the shirt down and finally covered the man's torso as he replied.

"Just get dressed, you big baby," he said, picking up the stray items the blond clearly wouldn't need as they were all from the ladies section then storming out. His face was an amusing combination of embarrassed and annoyed, though which of those was to blame for the blush, Thatch would never know.

"Um, where do I put these?" Ace asked, his voice back to the low setting it was before when he tried to explain the situation. Without a word in reply, Thatch took the clothes and put them on a pile behind the register to be folded a bit later then returned to Ace before freckles could escape.

"So, you were saying?" Thatch prompted, already half desperate for an answer, just like he knew Izo would be when he heard about all the things that went down in the short span of twenty minutes.

"I...uh… he's staying over for a bit," Ace said, his eyes unusually shifty as he spoke. "Uh, yeah."

Thatch was anything but convinced, after all, Ace didn't really appear really trustworthy at the moment. Not to mention how his friend had the perfect timing to disrupt whatever questions Thatch might have.

"Why just friends?" the blond asked. "You cared for me for so long, I thought…" he started, prompting another raise of his eyebrows from Thatch while Ace jumped to physically shut the other's mouth with his hand. The silence was heavy and the blond was confused, just as Thatch, though probably for different reasons as Ace looked at the brunet with panic clear on his face. Well, the blond just gave away a bit of new information that Thatch couldn't wait to share with Izo. Surely, the crossdresser would have quite a few theories in mind.

Once Ace seemed convinced the blond wouldn't speak further, Thatch offered his hand in a handshake.

"Thatch," he said as the blond took the offered hand, regarding him with slight confusion.

"Thatch…?" the blond said, furrowing his brow and Thatch could have sworn Ace facepalmed.

"Thatch, this is Marco," Ace finally offered a bit of information about the mysterious blond.

"Why do you keep saying Thatch?" Marco asked, the confusion on his face bordering on painful.


End file.
